High speed card feeding



Oct. 3, 1961 w. J. WHEELER 3,002,748

HIGH SPEED CARD FEEDING Filed Nov. 26, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .008 T .004 *1 52 BEGIN 1st. 0 l V0 1 2 CYCLE l I I 1 TIME SECONDS \0 i 2 5 4 L CARD CARD DISPLACEMENT 0F LEADING EDGE 25 FIG. 4

INVENTOR WENDELL J. WHEELER ATTORNEY Oct. 3, 1961 Filed Nov. 26, 1958 W. J. WHEELER HIGH SPEED CARD FEEDING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Get. 3, 1961 3,002,748 HIGH SPEED CARD FEEDING Wendell J. Wheeler, Endwell, N.Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 26, 1958, Ser. No. 776,514 3 Claims. (Cl. 271-41) This invention relates to high speed card feeding systems and, in particular, to a method and apparatus to increase the card output of present day card feeding systems used in sorting, collating, and punching business machines. I

In general, card feeding systems for use in these business machines include a container for stacking cards, which container is commonly referred to as a hopper. The cards may contain information to be sorted or collated or may be cards which are to be fed to a punching station to have additional information punched thereon. In order to remove the cards form the hopper, picker knife systems are used to remove a card from the stack and to push it through a throat, the throat being so designed as to permit only one card to. pass through at a time. The picker knife pushes the card a suflicient distance through the throat to deliver it to the card transport system onto a set of feed rolls. The card is then passed through the remainder part of the card transport system by the use of additional feed rolls so that the various operations of sorting, collating or punching may be accomplished. However, once the design of the machine is established, all of the elements of the machine are in a predetermined timed relationship to each other to provide optimum card output.

In the past, many attempts have been made to increase the output of a card feeding system. These attempts have been directed to increasing the ability of the cards to Withstand higher acceleration forces created by the impact of the picker knives on the edge of the card, and accurately positioning the cards in the hopper to align them with the picker knives to obtain better registration. Although there have been large advances made in the art in these and other areas, none of these prior attempts have been capable of increasing the card output of an existing card feed system without changing the system. This has been due to the fact that the maximum acceleration forces created by the picker knife on the card for optimum output with acceptable card damage has already been included in the design. The feed knives cannot be operated at higher accelerations in order to achieve a higher rate of card output while preventing objectionable card damage. This places an'upper limit on the speed of card output of an existing machine.

For purposes of this invention, the card transport system is intended to cover that portion of a sorting or collating machine, or the like, from the edge of the hopper to the last feed rolls where the card is passed through various sorting or collating operations at a constant speed. Also, the card feed systemis intended to cover that portion of the machine where the card is accelerated to card transport speed and generally includes.

the hopper and picker knife system. The card transport speed is intended to cover the speed at which the card is transported through the machine by constant speed feed rolls.

It has been found that card transport systems are capable of handling a greater number of cards in a unit of time. However, the card feed systems have not been capable of delivering morecards per unit of time to the card transport system. This has placed a limitation on the speed of card handling systems, such as a sorter or collator.

A method is known to increase the number of cards,

picked from the hopper by simultaneously picking more than one card and to then feed them into separate paths or card transport systems, where they are accelerated in iced rolls to different speeds so as to be spaced from each other when thereafter they are merged into a single path. However, this acceleration in the feed rolls does not increase the card output from the hopper. Although the number of cards picked from the hopper per unit of time by the picker knife is increased by this system, it does so by using a separate path for each card. It does not use a single path and eliminate overlap of the cards in the throat. In efiect it is merely increasing the speed by the number of separate paths by employing the technique of card overlap in the throat to get more cards out of the hopper.

In the past, cards have been fed from the hopper into the first feed rolls of the card transport system by completely accelerating the cards to the card transport speed by the picker knife. Although the feed rolls acting on the face of the card are capable of accelerating the cards much greater than the picker knives acting on the edge of the cards, the prior art has failed to utilize feed rolls for accelerating the cards out of the hopper. Instead, they have relied entirely on the picker knives for removing the cards.

In order to prevent card jams in the throat, the feed rolls must take a sufiicient amount of time to pull the card out of the Way so that the first card clears the throat before the next cycle begins and the next card is delivered. This is normally accomplished by alloting the smallest period of time for the distance that the picker knife moves the card into the feed rolls, to give the feed rolls a maximum amount of time to remove the card the remaining distance out of the hopper. latter time should give the picker knife ample opportunity to reposition itself to pick the next card. This can be done because the picker knife need only move the leading edge of the card from the throat to the first set of feed rolls, which distance is generally considerably less than the width of the card itself.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to increase the number of cards delivered by present day card feed-' ing systems by a simpler means than has heretofore been possible.

It is another object of this invention to increase the card output of a picker knife system by reducing the level of terminal velocity of the picker knife, While maintaining the optimum acceleration that the cards can Withstand, so as to enable the picker knife system to deliver more cards per unit of time.

It is another object of this invention to increase the card output of a card feeding system for use in a business machine in which the lineal terminal velocity of the picker knives (the ultimate velocity given to cards by the picker knives) is lowered While maintaining the acceleration of the picker knives substantially the same, thereby resulting in less time for the card to reach the lowered velocity, and thereafter accelerating the card over a longer period of time while still in the hopper to a higher velocity by the first feed rolls, so that in the overall acceleration of the card, more time is available to accelerate the card to the card transport velocity thereby achieving greater card output.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a hopper for cards and card feed systems in which the cards are accelerated over a longer period of time by partially moving them out of the hopper to one velocity at an optimum acceleration which the cards can withstand,

and completely moving them out of the hopper at the optimum acceleration with feed rolls to a higher ultimate velocity, thereby removing a greater number of cards from the hopper as compared to where only one acceleration This step is given to the cards to reach the same ultimate end velocity.

Briefly stated and in accordance with one aspect of my invention, 1 increase the output of cards of an existing picker knife system by providing a method and apparatus for sufiiciently decreasing the level of the terminal velocity of the picker knife, While still maintaining the optimum acceleration of the picker knife. This results in a decrease in machine time to accelerate a card to the new and lower picker knife terminal velocity. This enables the picker knife system to deliver more cards with equal or lower acceleration forces. In addition, I then increase the velocity of the card while still in the hopper to that of the card transport velocity by accelerating the card through a setof variable speed feed rolls which are set to operate at a low velocity level substantially equal to the terminal velocity of the picker knife and varied to a higher velocity substantially equal to the velocity of the card transport system.

' The subject matter which I regard as my invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of this specification. My invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a sorter mechanism which includes a card feeding system provided with a hopper and picker knife system, and a card transport system constructed in accordance with my invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a hydraulic system which shows how the picker knife and variable speed feed rolls of my invention can be operated from a lower speed to a higher speed and decelerated from a higher speed to the lower speed in short periods of time.

' FIG. 3 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 2 with the valves shown in different operating positions.

FIG. 4 is a time-displacement chart showing how the card is removed from the hopper.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in combination with a sorting machine, it is intended that the invention be equally applicable to other types of business machines such as collators and punches, and that I merely selected the sorter to best describe my invention. Also, although a hydraulic scheme is used to vary the speed of the picker knife and first feed rolls and is my preferred embodiment, variable speed electric motors or gear trains operated from cams could also be used. Furthermore, although I show a rotating picker knife drum as the preferred card feed system, an oscillating picker knife system could also be used.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an existing standard type sorting business machine. A hopper is shown for containing a deck of cards 12 to be sorted. These generally rest on an oscillating picker knife. However, for purposes of this invention, a rotating drum type picker 13 comprising a plurality of picker knives 14 is used as the preferred type. During each partial rotation of the drum, the picker knives move the bottom-most card from the deck and move it into a throating device 16. Each picker knife 14 does this by engaging the trailing edge of the card and by moving the leading edge of the card into a set of feed trolls 20, which is the beginning of the card transport system. From this point on, a selection means 24 is provided for sorting the cards into pockets 26. Additional constant speed feed rolls 22 are provided for delivering the cards to the selected positions inrthe machine.

In order to deliver as many cards as possible per unit of time to the card transport system, the picker knife system is optimized to apply as much acceleration force to the edge of the cards as the cards can withstand. In other words, the amount that a card can be accelerated by a picker knife system is limited by the amount of card 4 damage that can be accepted. This limitation of acceleration can be found experimentally for any given time by merely running tests. This then becomes a limiting factor on the card output of the machine.

In order to remove the cards 12 from the hopper 10 at a quicker rate, I use the first feed rolls 20 in a twofold manner, namely, as partof the card feed system to assist faster removal of cards from the hopper than by just a picker knife, and, secondly, to act as; the first feed rolls for the card transport section. Since the terminal velocity of the card feed system is lower than the velocity of the card transport system, the speed of the first feed rolls 20 is varied to have a low speed substantially equal to the terminal velocity of the picker knife and a top speed equal to the velocity of the card transport section.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which shows card motion on a time-displacement diagram for a 3,000 c.-p.m. feed. This card motion diagram will now be used in order to further explain the invention, and by showing an example of how the invention can be applied.

The time for each cycle is. determined as follows:

Assuming this is to be a 3,000 card per minute (c.-p.m.)

machine, then the time per machine cycle of each card is determined as follows:

A Therefore, the rate of card transport is determined as 7 60 sec.

Where:

S=Distance card moves per machine cycle=5.00" N :Number of cycles per minute of machine operation Therefore:

Vt=250 inches per second The speed of 250 inches per second is the, speed of the cards carried by the constant speed feed rolls 22 in the card transport section. This is also the top speed of the variable speed feed rolls since their respective speeds must match.

Therefore 250 inches per second=terminal or top speed of variable speed teed rolls.

Since the card, at the beginning of the card cycle, when it is in the hopper, is not moving, its velocity or rate of card transport is zero.

Therefore:

The next step is to determine the time for the picker knife drum to accelerate the card up to speed. The character of the picker knife drum accelerations may be adjusted to satisfy such conditions as impact; or jerk. The

displacement of the. card is based. on a constantaly celerated picker knife drum, and, the deceleration, of the picker knife is s ed o be iden ical to ts a celeration. I also assume the picker knife drum motion will include a dwell period (drum at rest) 7 just priorto card picking for about percent of the machine cycle time.

Where:

Therefore 0=V6 X 21r Where 6=Angnlar drum displacement in radians of a picker knife on the picker knife drum having 6 picker knives during one machine cycle Substituting:

0= As X21r=1.0472 radians The distance is now determined that the variable speed feed rolls are positioned from the throat or that distance over which the picker knife was accelerating the card.

Where:

S=Distance in inches the variable speed feed rolls are positioned from the throat r= Radius in inches of picker knife drum at that point of engagement with the card 0=Angular displacement of the picker knife at the radius of the picker knife drum having 6 stops r: 2.375" (this is an approximation of the radius of the drum which from experience should maintain contact of the picker knife on the card during its acceleration period) w =Angular velocity at the beginning of the acceleration period t zAcceleration period of the card by the picker knife 0 ==Angular displacement of the picker knife Also:

Where:

Gs=(Assumed to be 50)==the limiting number of Gs of acceleration that the cards can withstand without incurring unacceptable card damage. This is found experimentally and depends on card condition and card position 01 Angular acceleration of picker knife r; ladies of drum 6 Therefore:

Therefore substituting in above formula:

Substituting in above formula:

S=r0=3.375 .32886 rad. S=.781" (distance of variable speed feed rolls from throat) As pointed out previously, the low level velocity of the variable speed feed rolls must match the lineal velocity of the card at the instant of card transfer from the picker knife to the variable speed feed rolls. Therefore, in order to determine the lower velocity of the variable speed feed rolls, the terminal velocity of the picker knife at completion of its acceleration period must be determined.

=8120 rad. per sec.

w =Angular velocity of the picker knife at the end of its acceleration period a =Angular acceleration of picker knife t =Time in seconds of the acceleration period Therefore:

w =O+3120 .009 w =73.08 rad. per sec. Further:

V =w X r Where:

V =Maximum lineal velocity of picker knife in inchesper second w =Angular velocity at termination of acceleration period r=Radius of picker knife Therefore:

' V1=73.08 2.375=173.565 in. per sec.

Therefore, the velocity of the card when it passes into the first feed rolls will be 173.565 inches per second. Also, the variable speed feed rolls accelerate the card from 173.565 inches per second to 250 inches per second.

The time (t required to accelerate the card from 173.565 inches per second to 250 inches per second in the variable speed feed rolls is now determined.

Therefore:

OQXTR 386 Where:

acc. due to gravity in inches per /sec. =32.2 fe. \/sec.

12=386 /sec.

G =Acceleration in Gs that the card can withstand with out incurring unacceptable card damage. This has been found experimentally to be about 50 Gs.

u '=Angular acceleration of the card in radians per sec ond squared r Radius of the variable speed feed rolls which has been assumed at .750 inch Therefore:

a =25,75O rad. per sec. Also:

w =wa+ iz aooaaaa 7 Where:

w ==High velocity in radians per second at the periphery of the variable speed feed rolls. Since the high velocity was already calculated at 25 Oinches per second, the radians would be:

250 w -333.33 rad. per sec.

Further:

w =LW velocity in radians .per second :at-the periphery of the variable speed feed rolls. Since the velocity was calculated at 173.565 inches per second, the radians would be:

Therefore substituting in the above formula:

=231A=2 rad. per sec.

w =w +ot f 333.33=231.42-|-25,750 z t =.0036 second or 3.6 milliseconds Now, in order to determine the distance over which .the card is accelerated in the variable speed feedrolls,

Where r =Radius of variable speed feed rolls 6 =Length of the are at theradius Therefore, the distance the card has traveled in'being accelerated to avelocity of 250'inches per second is as follows:

Also, the time it takes for the card to be accelerated over the distance of 1.619 inches is as follows:

z +t =.009+.0036=.0126 sec.

t +t --'12.6 milliseconds Since the time for a machine cycle has beenset at 20 milliseconds, the remainder of the time of the cycle is as follows:

a= 1+ z] Where:

t -='Remainder of time cycle t =2012.6

' t =7'.4 milliseconds Since the card transport velocity is 250 inches per second, the distance traveled in theremainderamount of time is: S =V t 250 .0074

Total displacement for the hopper of a card in 'one machine cycle is determined as follows:

Therefore, the separation betweencards so that they will not overlap in the throat is as follows:

X=3.469-3.250 (size ofcard) =.2l9"

The above example was intended merely to explain the invention. Deviations can be made to the assumptions such as to sizeof the picker knife drum, size of the feed rolls and the amount of Gs that the card can withstand, without departing from this invention.

Referring still to FIG. 3, I show the first card in the timing diagram in several different positions as calculated above. For example, the card at position 30 indicates that the card is at zero velocity since it is positioned in the hopper awaiting tobe; picked by the picker knife 14. When the same card assumes the position shown at 32, it has been engaged by the picker knife 12 and accelerated into the variable speed feed rolls 2%. This card, as previously calculated, has traveled .781 inch in a period of 9 milliseconds. The next position of thecard is shown at 34 where it has been accelerated from 173.565 inches per second to 250 inches per second in 3.6 milliseconds over a distance of .83775" by the variable speed feed rolls. The acceleration curve for the first card is shown passing through the leading edge of the card. This acceleration curve is shown changing sharply at 9 milliseconds, after .it has passed into the variable speed fe d rolls 20.

Since the slope of the acceleration curve at ,a-particular point represents the velocity of the card at that particular instant, it is noted that when the cards pass into the first feed rolls, the feed rolls speed up the card to change the slopelofthe acceleration curve from that as shown at 33to that as shown at 35. When the card has reached the position at 36, it has completely left the hopper 10 and is at the end of the first machine cycle.

At this point, the second card, which is located at the position designated 40, is now ready to begin the second cycle by being picked by the picker knife. Since the first card, when at'the position shown at 36, is at the higher velocity of the variable speed feed rolls, and since the second cardpositioned at '40 must start at zero velocity and be accelerated to the lower velocity of the vari able speed roll 20, there can'be no overlap of the trailing edge of the first card, When it is at its position 36, with the leading edge of the second card. Furthermore, approximatelyone millisecond is allowed for the trailing edge of the first card to clear the throat. Also, the variablespeed feed rolls begin to decelerate to its lower velocity while the second card is being accelerated to this velocity. 'When the second card is shown at position 42, it has passed through the throat with its leading edge passing into the variable speed feed rolls 20. Itis noted that the acceleration curve 43 for the second card changes the first card.

As pointed outabove, when the first card has reached the position as shown at 38, it has left the variable speed feed rolls and the variable speed feed rolls can be reduced to its lower velocity. Referring to FIG. 3, there is approximately 7 milliseconds (t available for the variable speed feedrolls to reduce in speed to the lower velocity. This is determined from the difierence in time of the first card at position'38 (.022 second) and the position of the second card at position 42 (.029 second). In other words, the trailing edge of the first card at 38 has just left the variable speed feed rolls and thereafter 7 milliseconds is provided for the leading edge of the sec ond card to enter the variable speed feed rolls.

It is readily apparent that if the slope of the curve at 33 were extended (as shown by dotted line 33), it would take at least .032 millisecond to accelerate the card to the card transport speed of 250 inches per second. This wouldrbeJthe-amoun'tof time that it would take for the trailingsedge of the first card to leave the throat, before the leading edge of the second card is actuated upon by the picker knife'. .Iherefore, by utilizing variable speed feed rolls as the first feed rolls in a dualcapacity so as to assist in removing the cards from the hopper at :a

higher acceleration, the card will be r'emoved in 'much aooavas less amount of time than if the picker knife was relied upon entirely to accelerate the card to the transport velocity. Even though the picker knife is at its maximum acceleration, the card can be accelerated to a much higher velocity by the feed rolls. It is for this reason that the cards can be accelerated higher than what the picker knives could accelerate them and still maintain acceptable card damage.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a hydraulic means is disclosed for accelerating and decelerating the picker knife from zero velocity to its terminal velocity and back to zero again and for accelerating and decelerating the variable speed feed rolls from the terminal velocity of the picker knife to the card transport velocity and back to the terminal velocity of the picker knife. Although I have disclosed a hydraulic method of cyclic control for varying the speed of the picker knife and variable speed feed rolls, conventional electromechanical constructions could also be used. A hydraulic system was used in this particular case as a preferred embodiment.

In order to drive the picker knife drum and variable speed feed rolls 20, I provide a sump 50 connected to hydraulic motors through a two-section constant delivery type pump 52, 64 and through a series of cam-controlled speed valves 62 and 64. Constant delivery type pumps are used since speed of rotation of the picker knife drum and variable speed feed rolls are determined by the volume of fluid delivered from the pump. The hydraulic motor 78 drives the shaft 82 for the variable speed feed rolls, and the hydraulic motor 70 drives the shaft 74 for the picker knife drum. The shafts can be mounted on generally any type of hylraulic motor such as a gear or impeller type, the details of which form no part of this invention.

In further explaining the hydraulic system, a source of hydraulic fluid is shown in sump 50 which in turn is connected to the two pumps 52 and 54 physically mounted in tandem. The pressure in pump 54 is initially transmitted through hydraulic pressure switch 56 to act on pistons 55 to close a circuit for indicating lights and other machine control circuits (not shown). The lights establish evidence that there is sufiicient hydraulic pressure to put the machine in operation. The machine circuit control insures proper machine component regulation. Fluid from the pressure pump '54 then flows through the switch 56 to the control valve 58. The purpose of valve 58 is to start and shut off the feeding of cards based on machine requirements. In order to start feeding cards, the control valve 58 is in open position as shown in FIG. 2 to allow fluid pressure to be transmitted to the hydraulic motor 7 0. To get to motor 70, this pressure is transmitted through conduit 60 to a speed regulating valve 62. Valves 58 and 62 as well as valve 64, which will be more fully hereinafter explained, are cam-controlled by cams 65 which are initially under the control of an electromechanical device such as magnets 66. These magnets control and regulate the speed valves and are so positioned that they can latch up so that the cam cannot thereafter operate the valves 58, 62and 64.

The valves are intended to be operated at very high rates to provide basically on and off operation. Controlled acceleration is obtained by fluid pressure regulation, thereby furnishing essentially a system based on a constant acceleration force. Employing a constant accelerated drive will result in a lower maximum acceleration than other methods of applying an acceleration force. The card, in terms of damage, is likely to be more sensitive to the level of maximum accelerations than to the rate at which acceleration is applied. However, this is not necessarily true for the mechanical components in the drive. The fluid system will compensate for many of the impacts developed due to this method of accelerating the drive.

The pressure is predetermined bythe pressure regulating valve 53 and the pump 54, and pressure regulating valve 51 and pump 52.

The controlled hydraulic pressure oil is connected from the valve 62 to the hydraulic motor 70 through conduit 72 so as to drive the picker drum from zero velocity to card transfer velocity to the low speed of the variable speed feed rolls. A shaft 74 (see also FIG. 1) is mounted on the output of the motor to drive the picker knife drum 13. As pointed out previously, the motor can be of the gear or impeller type.

The motor 70 is accelerated until it has reached the terminal Velocity scheduled for the picker knife. When this occurs, the cam 65 is so designed as to move the valve 62 at this instant to close off conduit 72 toconduit 60. A further explanation of this operation will be discussed later.

A fluid operated detent device is shown at 76 to provide positioning control after the picker knife drum 13 has substantially ceased decelerating.

Pump 52 provides a constant line delivery to the variable speed card feed rolls 20. The output 57 of pump 52 is furnished continuously through conduit to fluid motor 78 once the card feeding requirements are initiated. The pressure from pump 52 operates the motor 78 and in turn shaft 82 (see also FIG. 1) to maintain the low level of velocity for the variable speed feed rolls. The low speed of the variable speed feed rolls, which are driven from the shaft 82, is substantially equal to the terminal velocity of the picker knife. For purposes of this invention, we are referring not to the rotational velocity of the variable speed feed rolls but to the peripheral or lineal velocity of the variable speed feed rolls. It is this peripheral or lineal velocity which is equal to the terminal or lineal velocity of the picker knife at the instant of transfer of the card from the picker knife to the feed rolls.

In order to accelerate the variable speed feed rolls, at the instant of transfer of the card from the picker knife drum to the variable speed feed rolls to the ultimate card transport velocity, the variable speed feed rolls are accelerated to a higher terminal velocity by switching the fluid pressure acting through valve 62 to valve 64. Referring to FIG. 3, this is accomplished by the cam and magnet for valve 62 shutting off conduit 60 and valve 64 being opened by its associated cam and magnet. In other words, fluid motor 78 is furnished with an increase in volume of hydraulic fluid under regulated pressure through valve 64 and conduit 79 to achieve a high speed velocity rotation of the variable speed feed rolls. This speed matches the card transport velocity of the card transport system.

Operation In order to operate the system, the valve 58 is first energized by its associated cam 65 and magnet 66 to its open position and latched. The valve 58 merely provides a means for controlling the fluid distributed to the speed valves 62 and 64 and is based upon a machine on or 'off condition. Pumps 52 and 54 are energized and develop system pressure prior to opening valve 58. Magnet 66 cannot be energized to unlatch valve 58 until hydraulic pressure switch 56 is closed. The pump 54 delivers fluid under pressure to the control valve 58 and in turn to the speed regulating valve 62 and from there to hydraulic motor 70 for driving the picker knife drum shaft 74. This fluid to the inlet of motor 70 accelerates the picker knife drum 13 from zero to terminal lineal velocity of the picker knife. The time for the picker knife drum to be accelerated from zero to terminal lineal velocity is controlled by the pressure relief valve 53 regulating the maximum fluid pressure to hydraulic motor 70. By fluid pressure being exerted on the high pressure side of the motor at 71, fluid then moves to the outlet or' low pressure side at 73 so as to return through conduit 75 to valve 62 and control valve 58 to the sum? .50. At

the same time, in order to operate the variable speed feed rolls, pump 52 provides fluid under pressure to the switch valve56 and control valve 58 directly to the high pressure side 81 of hydraulic motor 78 through conduit 80. This hydraulic fluid furnishes the low rotational speed of the variable speed feed rolls connected to shaft 52 by furnishing a constant flow of fluid from pump 52. When the fluid has passed through to the low pressure side or outlet of the hydraulic motor 78 at 83, it is returned back to the sump 50 through the conduit 85 and through the control valve 58 since the speed valve is closed at 86. At this point, the card has been transported by the picker knife 14 to the variable speed feed rolls 20'.

The variable speed feed rolls are accelerated to its higher lineal velocity while the picker knife drum is decelerated so as to be positioned for the next card feed cycle. The acceleration of the variable speed feed rolls 20, connected to the shaft at 82, is accomplished by having the cam 65 and magnet 66 close valve 62 to the flow of fluid from pump 54. This is done in order to make more fluid available to motor 78 to accelerate the variable speed feed rolls, along with the card that is now in the variable speed feed rolls, from the terminal velocity of the picker knife to the card transport velocity. At this point, valve 64 is opened exposing the fluid motor 78 to the fluid pressure from both pumps 52 and 54. This provides a larger volume of fluid flow through the motor so as to increase the rotational output speed of the shaft 82 to the upper level of the card transport velocity.

While the variable speed feed rolls are accelerated, the hydraulic motor 70 and the picker knife drum is decelerated by the closing of valve 62. When this happens the fluid to motor 70 at 71 is trapped so as to provide a hydraulic lock to decrease the speed of the picker knife drum to zero lineal speed. Also, the rotational speed of the picker knife drum is so regulated at the point that the drum is approaching zero velocity that the detent '76 in the fluid motor engages the drive shaft 74 to provide accurate position of the picker knife for the next cycle for picking the next card.

The variable speed feed rolls 20 must also thereafter be decelerated after the card has passed through the rolls 20 (controlled by shaft 82) and comes under the control of the card transport feed rolls 22. This is necessary for the variable speed feed rolls to match the terminal velocity of the picker knife. This is accomplished through operation of the cam 65 and magnet 66 for closing valve 64. The consequent shutoff of flow of fluid from the pump 54 to the variable speed feed roll motor 7 8 operates to decrease the flow of fluid so that the speed of the feed rolls 20 is reduced to picker knife terminal velocity as controlled by the fluid displaced by pump 52 alone to high pressure side 81 of motor 78. In the event that these feed rolls have a tendency to coast and not decelerate rapidly, a friction brake (not shown) can be used on the shaft 82 to accomplish this, or a reducing speed regulating valve can be inserted in low pressure conduit line 37 to introduce a hydraulic back pressure on fluid motor 78.

The cycle is repeated as each card is picked from the hopper.

Method The method for increasing the card output of existing machines is accomplished by applying an initial acceleration force to the edge of the card so as to act in the plane of the card. Sincethe acceleration force exerted on the edge of the card has already been determined as the maximum acceleration that the card can withstand, larger acceleration forces cannot be applied to the edge of the card. Therefore, in oder to accelerate the card to a higher second velocity, another acceleration force is supplied to the flat surface of the card. Although the pressure is exerted on both sides of the card in a plane perpendicular to the direction of the surface of the card, the resultant lineal acceleration force is applied parallel to the surface of the card in order to accelerate it. Thereafter a constant force is applied to the face of the card to maintain it at constant speed. Therefore, the higher acceleration applied to the card while it is still in the hopper enables it to be removed from the hopper in less time.

This card feed system has the advantage of providing complete cycle control. The machine can be stopped while cards are still in the variable speed feed rolls, and restarted again to re-establish machine card transport rates of speed since I provide proper timing of the machine control elements. Such proper timing can be supplied by well-known techniques which form no part of this invention. The card is not only controlled timewise as it comes out of the hopper, but also at any location out of the hopper area. operations where it is necessary to have flexibility in ac ceptance of card information on a timed basis.

Although I have described my preferred embodiment of the invention with respect to maintaining the optimum acceleration forces on the card, the dynamic forces on the existing machine can be lowered by my invention by lowering the card output. This results in the picker knife system having a lower card output than the system using optimum acceleration but yet equal to that which it previously had. The lower acceleration forces has the advantage of giving extremely longer life to the feed mechanism. This may be more desirable than the accompanying increase in card output when applying my invention.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated, and in its operation, may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A business card machine comprising a hopper for the cards, a variable speed picker knife system for partially removing the cards from the hopper, variable speed feed rolls for receiving the cards from the variable speed picker knife system for moving the cards out of the hopper, the top speed of the picker knife system matching the low speed of the variable speed feed rolls during card transfer and constant speed feed rolls for transporting the cards through the business machine matched to the top speed of the variable speed feed rolls.

2. In a machine for feeding cut forms at high speed, the combination of one means for advancing and accelerating successive forms from rest to a predetermined velocity, another means to which such successive forms are advanced seriatim by said one means and which engages and further advances each successive form, and means including timing means to vary the velocity of said other means according to a repetitive sequential pattern to cause said other meansto move at substantially said predetermined velocity at the instant it is initially engaged by each form and thereafter cause said other means to be accelerated to increase the form velocity to a predetermined higher velocity, whereby the forms will be smoothly accelerated limited degrees'in two successive stages without slippage of the forms relative to said one means and other means.

3. In a machine for feeding record cards successively at high speed from a stack in a hopper to a main transport system, the combination of means for accelerating successive cards while they are in the hopper from rest to a predetermined linear velocity less than that of the transport system, variable speed feed rolls into which successive cards are fed by said means while still in the hopper, and means including timing means to vary the peripheral velocity of the feed rolls according to a This is important in timed machine repetitive sequential pattern to cause said peripheral velocity to be substantially equal to said linear velocity at the instant said feed rolls initially engage each card and thereafter increase said peripheral velocity to accelerate such card to a higher linear velocity corresponding to that of the transport system and complete the removal of such card from the hopper, whereby each card will be accelerated in two successive stages without slippage to efiect high speed removal of the cards from the hopper.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

